Michael Vick and showing remorse

Have you been following the Michael Vick situation? You may not have done it consciously, but you know what’s going on.

First off, the guy has served his time, he went to prison and lost a fortune.

Ouch. But hey, he was the one killing and torturing dogs. On camera.

Now all the talk is about reinstating Vick. Who cares if he gets reinstated? He wasn’t even that good at quarterback. People just liked him because he could run fast. Wow.

But I’m off target here. What I keep hearing in the sports talk world, though, is that Michael Vick has to come forward and speak out against dog fighting and violence to dogs to be reinstated.

That is so weak.

Do we tell rapists after they get out of prison that to assimilate back into the public, they have to speak out against rape and talk to children about treating others with respect and not rape them? Do we tell thieves to get out of jail and be free that they must first show some remorse.

No. Know why that never happens?

The same reason that it shouldn’t happen with Vick.

These people, for the most part (I’m not going to say all of them, but let’s be real, most people who get locked up have been there before), don’t have remorse. Know what their remorse comes from? Getting caught.

If a rapist never gets caught, will they come out and say one day “Gee golly I was raping so and so, it was my tenth rape, and I just thought to myself ‘Holy bananas this is wrong.’ Now I’m traveling to tell you, you don’t have to rape people. Say it with me now! CSC is not for me!”

It’d be ridiculous, right?

What if Vick never got caught? I doubt one day he would just start showing remorse for his actions.

Just imagine that post-game press conference.

“Yeah it was a good win for us, but I have something else I’d like to say. I’ve been so remorseful over what I’ve been doing the past five years. You see, I’ve been operating an illegal dog fighting ring. The dogs that lose, I often drown with my own hands or strangle or starve. I’m not here to not talk about my 50-yard passing performance with one nice run, or my zero passing touchdowns and two picks, I’m here to tell you that dog fighting is bad.”

Now, in reality, when Commissioner Roger Gooddell makes Vick speak out, it won’t, but should sound something like this.

“I feel really bad about what happened. I was rich now I’m bankrupt. I was a star, now I’m a heel. Man, why did I have to get caught?”

In fact, if you think about it, speaking out against dogfighting is one of the craziest concepts I have ever heard. I don’t know a single person who needs to be convinced to not start a dog fighting operation. To not kill dogs in cold blood.

What is Vick supposed to say, though, seriously?

“Uhhhh, after spending 19 months in federal confinement, and, you know, reading in the law library, I now know, like, uhh, the consequences of my actions. You see, I never knew that dogs wasn’t made for fighting, but I did a lot of soul searching in the pen, and realize what I did was wrong.”

As if that’s going to affect anybody who hears him.

“Man I was going to start a dog fighting ring and fight my puggle fight a rottweiler, $1,000 winner take all, but Mike Vick says dog fighting is bad. He changed my life!”

Again, ridiculous. Just reinstate him. If a team wants to put up with PETA and hecklers, and pay for a mediocre quarterback because they want to change his position or use him as a wild cat, let them do it. If they don’t, then they don’t.

But don’t go around making some guy do something he doesn’t have to and say things he probably doesn’t mean. Quit acting as if the NFL is just a bright shining collection of class acts. Plaxico Burress, Pacman Jones, Matt Jones, Cedric Benson, Chris Henry, Travis Henry, Tank Johnson and so on and so on and so on.

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